Since getting into cycling in the early 00s I’d grown my riding from dashes to the shop, short recreational rides, daily commutes and in 2005 my first hundred miler. I was fascinated with the distance it was possible to cover on a bike. Upon chatting with my friend Chris Turner about a previous cycling tour of America that he had completed (Las Vegas – Denver – Vancouver), my awareness of cycle touring had gone from almost nothing to being inspired to attempt my own cycle tour.
I was blown away by his photos and his guile, and immediately wanted to do something similar. So, it was to Chris that I proposed that we make an attempt in our own country at the Lands End to John O Groats end to end ride.
Chris was immediately up for it, as were our partners – as a kind of touring holiday, the idea being that the ladies would be able to drive the car and find a variety of nice places up the length of the country to visit, whilst approximately keeping pace with me and Chris on our bikes.
Route
I had no awareness of GPS mapping websites or Strava back at the time, so my navigations would be made by map and the route was to be defined.
In my routing research, I found that the CTC had a LEJOG information pack which contained route suggestions. So, I ordered the CTC’s route pack for LEJOG and eagerly awaited its arrival through the post and when it arrived I pored over the information within.
There was general information, mileage info, route finding info, training & fitness info, accommodation suggestions, logistics info, book lists for further reading and a very small section on websites (just 2 website links), and of course there was routing info. Three routes were described; a main road route, a B&B route and a YHA route. The main road route suggested it could be ridden within 2 weeks, the others a little longer and so it was decided that the main road route would have to be the one we selected, as it fitted into our available time off work.
I purchased some sensible scaled maps covering the whole route and then highlighted the main road route onto the map. I loved looking at the maps for so long, imagining what the roads would be like when we made the attempt.
For Cycling UK (formerly the CTC) route information there is a website with all info on it here https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/cycling-guide/lands-end-to-john-ogroats
Training
I guess I’d become more serious about cycling in September 2004, which is when I’d begun to log my rides in a training diary. The next step was moving from a town bike to a Road bike (Specialised Sequoia) in October 2004.
So, looking back through my training diary I can see that in the first half of 2005 with LEJOG on the agenda for August I’d ridden 2800Km, an average of 400Km/month. This represented a significant increase in cycling for me at that time and I was deeply enjoying riding with the excitement of the trip on the horizon. In this training period I’d ridden my first hundred miler and went on to include 4 rides over 100 miles. I was sure these longer rides would help me come August.
Meanwhile, over in Shropshire Chris was keeping to his normal commutes and as a keen MTB rider had been exercising on the trails as well. Chris had placed an order for a bespoke Thorn Touring bicycle that he would use for our attempt, the only trouble being was that he couldn’t pick it up until very close to our departure date, giving him no time to get used to the new bike.
Heading Down
We drove over from Norwich to Chris’s place in Shrewsbury on the Friday night, to be ready for an early start the next day, with the 4 of us and bikes squeezing into Chris’s motor.
We left Shrewsbury early on Saturday 30th of July, and the journey to Lands End was terrible… it took us 10 hours, encountering 4 major hold ups including a burnt out coach and a jack-knifed caravan.
Day 1 / Lands End – Chacewater
After finally arriving at Lands End, we were all knackered and a little underwhelmed. It was cold and wet and the place was a bit tacky. Although it was late in the day we were keen to stretch our legs and take the start of the journey, so Chris and I got a photo taken of us under the famous sign to record the start of the ride, and at 17:30 we set off. The girls were dispatched to spend more time in the car and locate a B&B somewhere not too far away.
Chris and I were excited to have begun the ride, it’s always a relief to just start pedalling on these rides which are built up over time with a lot of thinking, planning and logistics. It was great to be actually riding.
We were in touch with the girls about accommodation and after a couple of hours of searching for suitable places they called and said they had secured somewhere. We were pleased to hear from them and arriving at Fay’s B&B in Westfield, Chacewater, we had covered 52Km for the day. Once sorted out at the accommodation we headed off to a local pub for something to eat, then it was straight to bed for all.
Day 2 / Chacewater – Broadclyst
We started with a full English breakfast to get us fuelled up and day 2 saw the dynamics move. Chris and I got the bikes kitted up with panniers and camping kit whilst the girls readied themselves to spend the night at Laura’s Aunt’s house near Bath.
It was funny as we were getting the bikes ready after breakfast as both Chris and me relayed the conversations that we’d had with our respective partners the night before… “this really isn’t my idea of a holiday”… turns out Laura and Esme had both had similar feelings after day1. We were hopeful that things would improve and that they would begin to enjoy the trip and some relax time in Bath would certainly help for them.
We continued cycling up through the central spine of Cornwall, through Truro, St Austell. Liskeard, Tavistock and over Dartmoor. Climbing up over Dartmoor the man with the hammer came knocking and I felt totally empty. It was a definite bonk. Fortunately, I had food and ate the sandwich I’d purchased earlier followed by something to drink. Felt much better and was able to push on towards Exeter.
We knew that we would be camping, and we were in need of more water for boiling pasta and also fuel for the stove, which I think was an oversight – we were sure we had plenty… in any case we got creative with supplies, using an outside tap of an empty house for water and flagging down a passing RAC van for fuel.
Shortly after passing Exeter Chris and I decided to start looking out for a field to camp in. We found a good candidate near Broadclyst, waited for the traffic to empty from the road and then got ourselves and the bikes into position, out of view of traffic from the roads.
We’d covered 164Km for the day and had made a good dent into the start of the journey, over terrain that we knew would be slow going with lots of hills. It was great to be on the ride and the wild camping was exciting for me. The girls had taken 5 hours to drive up towards Bath, but were pleased to finally be relaxing at Laura’s Aunt’s house.
Day 3 / Broadclyst – Bristol
We were up early as we wanted to get packed down before anyone clocked us striking camp in the field. We breakfasted on the worst porridge I’ve ever had, made on the camping stove and given the title of “Devils porridge” by myself and Chris. We hit the road soon after with the bikes loaded up with kit for the 2nd time.
We headed up north and east through Cheddar Gorge, which was a hilly highlight, made all the better by the excellent weather we were experiencing. We made steady progress during the day and by around 5pm we were crossing the Clifton suspension bridge, on route to stay at some friends of Chris’s in Bristol.
The girls drove up from Bath to Bristol to have dinner with us and to take our camping gear into the car. Our plan for the next day didn’t involve camping so we wanted to shed the load.
We’d covered 125Km for the day in what was again hilly territory, and we were very pleased to be at a friendly house being fed, watered and looked after.
Day 4 / Bristol – Shrewsbury
We set off on our unloaded bikes after a decent sleep and breakfast but it wasn’t the earliest of starts, we’d allowed ourselves to wallow in the hospitality of friends. Before long we were out of Bristol and crossing the Severn bridge for Chepstow. Once again the weather was lovely, and given the heat I was cycling in a vest top. A choice that I would pay for later.
Once over the bridge we followed the A466 road that runs next to the River Wye, very picturesque up through Tintern and up to Monmouth, from where We carried on northbound through Hereford and Bishop’s Castle on our way towards Shrewsbury.
Our overnight stop was actually at Chris and Esme’s house, just west of Shrewsbury. We arrived at the house tired having spent all day in the saddle to make our longest day at 173Km. My shoulders and back had taken a battering from the days sun and I hadn’t used enough sun cream. Silly mistake to make as now that we were stopped and not getting any cooling from the wind, my shoulders were burning up badly.
Esme’s mum had arranged to come to the house and cook us up some food which was great and also meant that the girls would get looked after too. The girls had had a nice day driving up from Bath, stopping at Tintern Abbey for a while and then lunching in Hereford. Lots of driving for them.
Day 5 / Shrewsbury – Coppull
Enjoying the comfort of Chris and Esme’s home we again made a slightly later start, not helped by having to kit up with the tents again. Once we were off we were northbound into the wind on what would be the most un-picturesque day of the ride.
Up through Wem and Whitchurch all along the A49 up to Warrington and then finally taking our nights resting place in a field behind a BMX track near a town south of Preston called Coppull. 123Km for the day.
Day 6 / Coppull – Penrith
We were up early as is normally the case when camping, and we got ourselves breakfasted and packed up pretty quickly. Chris was keen to have a go on the BMX track with his loaded touring bike so that’s what he did…
Northbound again through Preston and Lancaster and skirting into the Lake District at Kendal. We knew that Shap pass was coming up and we were keen to get over it and get closer to Scotland.
We’d met up with the girls en route from Shrewsbury, and they had spent some time in Kendal speaking with people at the Tourist Information Centre, where they had been able to secure us all a hotel in Penrith. That was a spot on destination to end the day at and as we unloaded our camping kit into the car, we chatted and ate Kendal Mint Cake together. The lighter loads of our bikes would help us over Shap.
We were leaving the bigger cities and urban sprawls behind and it felt like we were on course for Scotland when we sighted our first Highland Cows.
141Km for the day and we were booked into the Albany House Bed & Breakfast in the centre of Penrith. It was a nice place with friendly patrons, and the twist was that the 4 of us were in a family room. This was fun as we laughed and joked with each other a lot. We had a lovely meal at an Italian restaurant before taking a stroll around the town and getting our heads down. We were excited to know that we would pass into Scotland the next day.
Day 7 / Penrith – Sanquhar
A good night’s sleep was had in our family room for 4, and a lovely breakfast at the B&B set us up well for the the day. Plan for the day was for me and Chris to get riding and for the girls to have a nice day doing whatever came to mind, as well as sorting out a campsite for the night. They knew our route so we’d chat later to get details.
Heading north on the A6, the road surface was speed sapping and bloody hard work. If you stopped pedalling there was barely any roll and it felt like a slog up to Carlisle and beyond.
Shortly after passing through Carlisle we changed heading to go west and with that we were across the Scottish Border at Gretna.
We were very pleased with ourselves, we’d crossed into Scotland on day 7 and this had been the obvious milestone for quite some time. Yet, we knew there was a lot more road to cover… We carried on riding west and skirted north east of Dumfries.
Unfortunately, Chris’s right knee was becoming increasingly uncomfortable for him to ride on. A big ramp up from his normal distances on an unfamiliar (new) bike were the likely causes of the discomfort, but there was little he could do but continue on slowly.
With Chris slowing down so much, a gap opened up between us. I would ride at my pace and then wait for Chris at major junctions, he was in a bad way and wasn’t able to put any pressure through his right knee really. The rest of the day dragged on, particularly for poor old Chris. At least the weather was being reasonable for us.
The girls had been enjoying themselves in the Lake District, having a row out onto Ullswater and walking around the area. They had managed to find us all a campsite located behind a petrol station at a place called Sanquhar. It was bloody windy and cold, but it was fine for what we needed and the girls had pitched the tents in advance of our arrival. We had a camp out dinner of basic pasta, which was the functional food we were in need of.
138Km for the day and Chris had to get some rest for his knee. Depending on his condition in the morning, he had to make a call on if he would ride or not.
Day 8 / Sanquhar – Dunoon
We all had a decent rest overnight, Chris’s knee seemed tight but he managed a walk down to the garage to get some milk for breakfast.
The real test was to come when he tried to ride the bike for a short distance. Unfortunately, the position and action on the bike were the triggers for instant pain in Chris’s right knee so, reluctantly and with a very heavy heart Chris stated that he would have to stay off the bike for the day’s ride. A day’s rest would be very restorative and then he could try again tomorrow. Chris, being a physio was very aware of turning a twinge into something chronic and made the right decision for his body.
With the riding decision made, I had to get going solo. We would be hitting the west coast of Scotland properly today but before that there was some more main road A76 riding to do through old mining towns such as New Cumnock, boarded up houses and a general declining feel were left from the closing of coal mines in the 1960’s. It really felt like a depressing place.
Onwards to Kilmarnock, which itself wasn’t a gem either, but had a familiarity as a place that me and my family used to visit on holidays in Scotland. As I had just passed through Kilmarnock I heard a bang at the rear of the bike. My rear wheel had developed a severe buckle and upon inspection a spoke on my rear wheel had snapped!
My initial thought was “Shit! How am I going to get this sorted?” However, a few moments to assess and work out a plan and I was getting on with fixing it. In my preparations for the ride, I had read a section in the Lonely Planet Cycling Britain book about truing a wheel when you are stuck on the side of the road, and fortunately I recalled approximately what to do, and very fortunately I had a spoke key in my tool kit.
Half an hour or so later, after a lot of pissing about to get the broken spoke out and loosening/tightening the other spokes to take the buckle out, the wheel was true enough to ride on without any issues. I was very pleased that I was able to sort the problem so I could continue riding.
Now I was off to the coast and was hitting places like Ardrossan, Largs and Wemyss Bay. I’d arranged to meet the other three at Gourock to take the ferry south west over to Dunoon, where we would then look to finish up for the day.
The others had had a leisurely day, relaxing on Troon beach playing Boule and eating lunch from a bakery, they had also sorted out accommodation for the night in a hotel 4 miles south of Dunoon – The Osbourne Hotel, Innellan. We had a decent 20 minute ferry crossing from Gourock to Dunoon and then we all drove south to the hotel to get ourselves sorted out. 121Km done solo.
Once we’d checked into the hotel I wanted to sort my rear wheel out properly, I had brought some spokes with me as replacements, but unfortunately after taking the tyre and tube off and attempting to fit the replacement spoke it was apparent that the replacement spokes I had were around 3mm too short…! I’d have to ride on with the road side repair.
Day 9 / Dunoon – Barcaldine
After a good feed, a couple of games of pool and a decent nights rest, we were looking forward to starting on a stretch that we knew would be beautiful. Chris’s knee was much better for having a day’s rest and the weather was just lovely too, so we didn’t waste too much time in getting ourselves readied for the road. We were in step with the girls now and they were carrying all the camping gear for later.
We headed off north towards Inveraray along the A815 and it did not disappoint. The scenes were fantastic.
We had arranged to meet the girls at Inveraray, where they had picked up sandwiches for lunch. We enjoyed a nice meet up on the edge of Loch Fyne, and discussed whereabouts we might end up targeting to stay that night. We were thinking somewhere around Oban.
We continued on northwards along the A819 skirting Loche Awe before heading further west along the A85 and Loche Etive, through Taynuilt and Connel.
The girls had overtaken us and had managed to sort out a campsite north of Oban, in a place called Barcaldine. As we turned north onto the A828 we were alongside Loch Creran and we knew that Barcaldine was just up the road.
Upon arrival the girls already had camp set up and they were also already protecting themselves from being midged… bloody pests. Chris and I had experienced beautiful views, fine weather, good food and some tremendous support from the girls, and Chris’s knee was also in reasonable shape. So, 128Km for the day and all was good!
Day 10 / Barcaldine – Beauly
We had a good sleep and in the morning Chris and I were keen to hit the road, so as we readied ourselves and our bikes the girls had a more relaxed start to the day, but were left in the knowledge that all the packing up would be down to them…
We didn’t have to wait long before we were seeing some more beautiful scenes heading north along the A828. It was a lovely still morning and everything felt very peaceful riding alongside Loch Linnhe.
We continued on northbound up the A828 until we crossed over Loch Leven onto the A82 at North Ballachulish. This would see us ride past the Pap of Glencoe before continuing up next to Loch Linnhe again and onto Fort William. This is where there was an opportunity of a bike shop which may have the correct size spoke for my rear wheel, and it was also really the point where we left the west coast and began to traverse north east across to the other side of Scotland.
The bike shop in Fort William sorted me out with a spoke of the correct length and I would replace it later on, but for now it was a case of food and then forward progress.
Off up the A82 again past Ben Nevis and up to Spean Bridge, past the World War 2 Commando Memorial, carrying on next to Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and parallel to a section of the Caledonian Canal before passing through Fort Augustus, which marked our introduction to Loch Ness!
I was excited to ride alongside Loch Ness, the legend of the monster was very much in my thoughts and I kept my eyes peeled for any stirrings or disturbances in the water. Of course the reality was that we saw no monster, but it was fun to imagine the atmosphere of the famous picture as we rode along the Loch.
Loch Ness was a bit of a let down really, it was tough going with the road undulating up and down, add to that the near constant stream of tour buses and holiday makers, it made for a road that Chris and I were keen to get off.
We did just that at Drumnadrochit, where we picked up the A833 north up towards Beauly. The girls had had a pleasant and productive day, striking camp and then exploring Glen Nevis through some nice walks. They were also a little unimpressed with Loch Ness, so they put their efforts into securing more camping accommodation for us all for the night – which they did at Beauly.
We arrived at the campsite with 153Km covered for the day. The girls had set camp already and had chosen to pitch right under an electricity pylon! Pasta and sauce for dinner again.
Day 11 / Beauly – Bettyhill
We were really feeling like we were nearing the end at this time, we knew we would hit the north coast today and we’d be within touching distance of our final destination.
Lots of noisy crows made sure we had an early start and we woke to a grey sky but mild temperatures. Staple breakfast of porridge consumed and then we were off again, leaving the girls to strike camp (again) for the last time! We had planned to get a B&B for the night which the girls would sort out during the day.
As we headed north up towards Dingwall and around some of the Cromarty Firth, there was heavy coastal industry present. We road right next to the A9 for a period (known for the run into John O Groats taken by most competitive riders) before heading north at Alness in favour of the very quiet roads into the Ross highlands towards Bonar Bridge and Lairg.
North of Lairg we were on very minor narrow roads with passing places, there was hardly any traffic, but interestingly the traffic we did see was made up largely of Dutch camper vans and motor homes. we passed The Crask Inn, which could be Scotland’s most isolated pub, reaching Altnaharra shortly afterwards.
The girls had chosen to visit Dornoch after striking camp and they enjoyed it very much and whilst in town they managed to book up a B&B with the assistance of the Tourist Information Centre. So, we heard from the girls that Bettyhill on the north coast would be our destination for the day. We chose to ride north east at Altnaharra, up towards Bettyhill, looking forward to the luxuries of a B&B!
Enjoying the peaceful and very empty roads I was cycling along and passing through Syre when I was given a fright by a dog suddenly barking at us. Totally unexpected, and it made my heart rate jump up significantly! For most of the day Chris and I had found our own rhythms of cycling. I was tending to ride ahead and stop at the more major junctions or landmarks, where Chris and I would then stop and catch up together.
151Km cycled for the day and we arrived to meet the girls already holed up at Craig’ Dhu’s, Dunveaden House B&B. My word, this place had been ring-fenced from time progression since around 1960, the feel and decor of the place was stuck in the past, but the views of the coast were lovely.
It was great to have a warm shower and access to a real bed. We had an excellent meal in the local pub, The Farr Bay Inn and we enjoyed having comfy accommodation as a treat – looking forward to finishing the following day but also feeling a twinge of sadness that the adventure was drawing to a close.
Day 12 / Bettyhill – John O Groats
All we had to do today was ride eastwards along the north coast with the prevailing wind on our backs and into John O Groats. It was very exciting to be contemplating the finish and achieving a long term cycling goal. However, I had a knot in my stomach as I had been planning to ask my then girlfriend: Laura, a rather important question upon arrival in John O Groats…
The excitement for the morning consisted of my rear wheel suffering another spoke failure, this time there was no real problem with buckles and simply opening up the brake calliper accommodated the buckle to allow progress. I was distracted with what lay ahead and I didn’t want to spend time on the roadside getting the wheel perfect, we didn’t have far to go and near enough would be good enough for now.
We’d passed through Thurso, which was the biggest concern we’d seen since Dingwall, but we didn’t stop. We had arranged to meet the girls at Dunnet and then for the 4 of us to drive up to Dunnet Head (the most northerly point on the British Mainland). So, we loaded bikes on the roof and took a drive up to look out over the Atlantic Ocean and up to the Orkney’s, Shetland and Faroe Isles…However, disappointment, cold and wind lay ahead as the sky was thick grey and we couldn’t see a thing! At least we visited though.
The last few Kms ticked down quickly with me growing more nervous about my plan after our arrival, I had told Chris what I was planning and he was all excited about it, which was nice. We arrived in John O Groats after 81Km, we said hi to the girls who were there waiting, and as we celebrated the finish I asked Laura to marry me!
At first she thought I was joking, but when I assured her I was serious she realised “the question” and fortunately agreed to marry me. Phew…
Formalities for the ride, such as photographs under the famous sign and stamping log sheets was taken care of around the information centre, and once that was complete we could finally conclude the journey!
Chris was a great cycling partner, he was very relaxed and easy going, and almost always lighthearted – except when being close-passed by vehicles.
We left John O Groats in the car with the bikes on the roof. It was lovely to be driven in the car. We were heading back south on our way to stay with some family friends near Edinburgh for a couple of days. We had a lovely time reflecting on the cycle tour and looking forward to a wedding and of course more cycling.
